On Jan. 1, 2025, a man drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. At least 14 people died and dozens were injured in the attack before the attacker died in a police shootout, according to Jan. 2 reporting by CBS News.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) called the attack an act of terrorism, and they are still working to uncover the motive behind the attack. There was a black ISIS flag hanging from the truck’s bumper, proving his connection to terrorist organizations. He was later identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texas citizen, according to CBS News.
Jabbar was a U.S. Army veteran who drove the Ford F-I50 Lightning truck onto a sidewalk. The truck was rented from the company Turo, who is now actively working with police. Turo did not identify Jabbar as having a criminal background, according to a Jan. 1 NBC News Article.
Jabbar had traveled to New Orleans twice in the month before the attack. Investigators believe that Jabbar acted alone and that this attack is not connected to the cyber truck explosion in Las Vegas, Nev., that also occurred on New Year’s Day.
In response to the attack, President Joe Biden said that Jabbar posted videos indicating he was inspired by ISIS, but that there should be no conclusions jumped to during the investigation, as cited in the NBC article. Biden traveled to New Orleans on Jan. 6 to attend a prayer service for the families of the victims and the community members, according to a Jan. 6 ABC News article.
